Road Cycling - Uncomfortable riding in Road shoes

For the 1st time, I bought clipless pedals & shoes. Look A3.1's & Diadora's. I've ridden with them for <50 miles.

Within 90 minutes of my first ride with them, my front half of my feet & toes got numb. I had the cleats set to the point closest to my toes. I tried moving them down as far as they could go. Still uncomfortable and my feet felt like they were on fire. Mind you, in sneakers, I could ride 50 miles w/o much fatigue.

Walking with them, they feel absolutely fine. I even tried on a pair of Pearl Izumi's w/ carbon soles @ my LBS and they did not feel appreciately different while at the store just walking to and fro.

What could be the problem? My feet shouldnt feel like they are on fire or going numb within 90 minutes. Within 20 minutes I felt discomfort starting on my last ride. It feels like the hard soles diging into my foot. I've tried wearing them tight as well as looser.

When I first purchased these I was worried about the whole clipless process; that part has been fantastic. I feel very well balanced wearing them, and they feel vvery intuitive. The biggest difference is while climbing, wow!

I'm ready to sell the shoes, but am insure if the same problem will come again in another shoe, since I have no way to predict their comfort on the bike. I do weight 250#'s. Could this be a factor?

For the 1st time, I bought clipless pedals & shoes. Look A3.1's & Diadora's. I've ridden with them for <50 miles.

Within 90 minutes of my first ride with them, my front half of my feet & toes got numb. I had the cleats set to the point closest to my toes. I tried moving them down as far as they could go. Still uncomfortable and my feet felt like they were on fire. Mind you, in sneakers, I could ride 50 miles w/o much fatigue.

Walking with them, they feel absolutely fine. I even tried on a pair of Pearl Izumi's w/ carbon soles @ my LBS and they did not feel appreciately different while at the store just walking to and fro.

What could be the problem? My feet shouldnt feel like they are on fire or going numb within 90 minutes. Within 20 minutes I felt discomfort starting on my last ride. It feels like the hard soles diging into my foot. I've tried wearing them tight as well as looser.

When I first purchased these I was worried about the whole clipless process; that part has been fantastic. I feel very well balanced wearing them, and they feel vvery intuitive. The biggest difference is while climbing, wow!

I'm ready to sell the shoes, but am insure if the same problem will come again in another shoe, since I have no way to predict their comfort on the bike. I do weight 250#'s. Could this be a factor?


What size shoes are those? I might buy them :)

I'm assuming you are wearing thin, coolmax, cycling type socks? Thicker socks can hold a lot of moisture and take up a lot of space. As your blood circulates, your feet will swell creating a situation where you have a lot less room in the shoes. Especially near the toe where the shoe gets narrow. Not as much give.

You may want to consider getting a shoe with a wider width. You may have to do some searching, but I think cycling shoes are narrower than regular shoes. Good luck.

I sounds like the toe box is to small, Diadora have a narrow toe box. I would try a set of Carnacs. I too had problems with my feet, I went though many pairs of shoes, the Carnacs have been the ones that work for me. I have try on a set of the Nike Lance shoes, and they too have a wide toe box. You might also need to add a set of insoles. I have a set of Peterson powerbed insoles,because of my high arches.
Don't forget, just like everything eles, your feet will have to break in the shoes. One last thing you don't want to make the shoes as tight as you can them. Your feet will swell some during a ride.

"I had the cleats set to the point closest to my toes. I tried moving them down as far as they could go."
-- Try setting them in the middle. Seriously. More to the point, if they're centered under the ball of your foot, I think your feet will be better supported. The other thing is, you're jumping in the deep end. I moved from casual to mtb to roadie shoes and that probably made it easier on my. I started with SPD -- cuz that's what's on my mtb -- and found my feet burning and numb after a while. The Look cleat/pedal really helped that... for me. Maybe try a different pedal and/or shoe. But don't give up, the right set up is out there for you.

I've had similar problems. Started out with SPD pedals and Pearl Izumi Vortex shoes. The shoes were fine, but the SPD pedals were just too damn small. I wear a size 13 shoe. I should have never gotten SPD pedals, but I was just starting out. Sold the pedals and shoes and started from scratch recently.

Shelled out for a pair of Sidi Genius 4 Megas. Absolute sex on my feet. If you have big feet, you should consider getting a pair of these no matter the price. They're worth it and more ($200+).

More importantly, I got some Campy Record Pro Fit pedals which are Look compatible. Bigger platform than the SPDs. I'm a Look fanboy now. Much better pedal system. Time Impacts are also nice.

After this switch, I still had a little soreness, but nothing like the SPD setup. Then I realized where my feet were in my pedal stroke. I noticed that I was pointing my toes downward in a pronounced way toward the bottom of each pedal stroke. A little adjustment of my cleats and seatpost, and now I no longer suffer any soreness in my feet at all.

I would say it takes a little adjustment period with clipless pedals. Then your feet adapt. Still, make some adjustments to your seat height and cleats' positions until you're dialed in.